UBC’s Patrick Condon — The Unlikely Revolutionary
Patrick Condon, the tousle-haired 2018 revolutionary candidate for Mayor of Vancouver
In today’s VanRamblings post, we set about to introduce you to University of British Columbia professor in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture — okay, okay, let’s call him what he is: a City Planner, and a damn fine city planner at that, and a professor at UBC who has taught more than 80% of city planners currently employed across the Metro Vancouver region and who has played a key behind the scenes role in developing whatever livable aspects of life on the Lower Mainland that exists across our region today.
In today’s VanRamblings we refer to Mr. Condon — we’re going to call him “Patrick” from here on in, because that’s the way he’d want it, and that’s the way you should see him, as a friend, as a neighbour, and as one of us struggling to make ours a more livable city for all — as the Man With a Plan, and in the body of today’s post, as The Unlikely Revolutionary.
Why?
The answer is a simple one: never before in our city’s 132-year history have we had an accomplished city builder with a lifetime of experience in designing livable cities for all offer himself up as a candidate for Vancouver Mayor — that, at least in part, addresses the Man With a Plan headline.
Mr. Condon well elucidates his affordable housing and livable city plan in some great detail in the interview available at the top of today’s column.
You’ll want to listen closely to today’s interview with the affable, gregarious, and utterly charming and respectful of you and me, Mr. Condon — and if you don’t come away saying to yourself, “Patrick Condon is the guy I want to see as Vancouver’s next Mayor,” VanRamblings will be very surprised.
2018 Vancouver Mayoral aspirants Shauna Sylvester, Ian Campbell & Kennedy Stewart
All of which is to say that, as well, we continue to harbour immense respect for independent Mayoral candidate, Shauna Sylvester — Vancouver is long overdue for a woman Mayor — and that we kinda think the sun sorta rises & sets on Squamish Nation hereditary Chief Ian Campbell, one of the ‘great men’ we have met in our lifetime, accomplished and incredibly bright, and a man of integrity, wit and compassion — and a humble man of substance who means much good for our city; or, Kennedy Stewart — who’s worked as a federal NDP Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas / Burnaby South since 2011, a Wolfville, Nova Scotia Maritime boy born and bred (Canadians don’t come any finer than those folks who’ve lived in the Maritimes), and an accomplished Parliamentarian with a democratic history of governance — and, the only candidate in the progressive coalition race with a successful electoral history, and first-hand experience in governance.
Patrick Condon’s entry into the Vancouver Mayoral race, though, has set the bar high for all the other 2018 Mayoral aspirants — there’s no bafflegab and no spin in the Patrick Condon zone, and when you’re a Mayoral candidate of vision and accomplished city building competence, how can you not have set the standard for what the electorate might expect in their next Mayor?
Still, we have referred to Patrick Condon as the unlikely revolutionary, and as such, we oughta explain ourselves — although Patrick does a pretty fine job of doing that all on his own, as you’ll hear in the interview above.
As Patrick told Straight editor Charlie Smith in a June 10th interview …
“With the support of the federal and provincial governments, the city should build sufficient public housing on land made permanently public like they do in many European countries,” he declared. “Vienna is a model for what Vancouver could do. If we fail, this city will soon become nothing more than a parking place for cash and a pretty place to visit.”
So, what makes Patrick Condon’s Mayoral candidacy revolutionary?
1. A movement to 50% non-market housing: Patrick Condon says his goal is to increase the percentage of non-market housing in Vancouver, from 15% to 50% — as you’ll hear in the interview, a mix of co-op, co-housing and rental, with a social housing component for those requiring supports. Patrick explains how he’d go about that: building on city land — as he avers, there is currently $2.7 billion in Vancouver’s much-lauded Property Endowment Fund, and both the federal and provincial governments own hundreds of acres of Crown land in our city — Patrick Condon proposes to build non-market housing on those lands, on a leasehold basis, similar to what we see along south False Creek, as he explains today, in VanRamblings’ interview with the good Mr. Condon;
2. Neighbourhood consultation. With Patrick Condon as Mayor, you’d see him in your neighbourhood often, consulting with and listening to you, working together to build the city we need;
3. Negotiation of a fair collective agreement with City workers. And a collective agreement that would continue to set the standard for municipal collective agreements across British Columbia. A Patrick Condon candidacy would not come at the expense of city workers, nor any other worker employed by the city of Vancouver;
4. A radical re-think of Vancouver’s property tax system. A Patrick Condon Mayoralty, following an application to the province to make the required changes to the Vancouver Charter, would see a shift away from the current property tax system, such that first-time owners would pay much less, while properties assessed at $5 million or more would pay more, as would the multi-national corporate head offices located in Vancouver, with cuts to the small business tax — similar to the plan retired Vancouver City Councillor Tim Louis put in place when he was Finance Chair on Vancouver City Council, from 2002 – 2005.
There’s a great deal more that Patrick Condon has on mind that you’ll want to attend to when you listen for all of the detailed explanation in his unassailable plan, fiscal and otherwise, for creating a fairer, more just, and more inclusive city for all, a legacy for Patrick, and as he says a capstone for his career — and for all of us, the realization of the city we need.
